


Count by Fingers

by dramaticbanjo



Category: Inazuma Eleven GO
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 06:22:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4009162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dramaticbanjo/pseuds/dramaticbanjo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rei Rukh figures out life after his purpose in stopping Raimon is done.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Have All My Fingers

“Coach Sakamaki.”  
He wasn’t supposed to be awake this early. The boy, as there was no denying that’s what he was, wasn’t supposed to even be able to speak, much less exhibit this level of curiosity.   
“Why am I always in the lab?”  
“You’re very sick, Rei.”  
The pale boy tilted his head to the side, “I am?”  
“Yes, you are.”  
“Okay.”  
There was quiet, and Sakamaki continued working on something at his table.   
“Coach Sakamaki?”  
“Yes, Rei?”  
“Who are in the chambers?”  
With one arm, Rei pointed at the glowing tubes, inside there was the blurry outline of what appeared to be people. “Are they sick as well?”  
“No, they’re just androids.”  
“Oh, okay.”   
He heard Rei shift on the table behind him, “When do you think I can go outside?”  
“Not until you’re better.”  
“When will that be?”  
His hands tightened around the pieces of metal he had been working with, “For a little while. Why don’t you go to sleep? I’ll wake you up before I leave.”  
Rei was probably frowning, but he did as Sakamaki said, “…Good night, dad.” 

Outside the lab, Toudou was waiting for him, “Sakamaki-san. How long do you plan on working on Perfect Cascade’s development?”   
“Android technology at the level we need takes time to create.”   
The leader of El Dorado frowned, starting to walk away, “You do not have forever to complete them.”  
“You’re asking me to create perfect children. That is going to take time.”  
“Then don’t create children. Create androids. Is the Hyper Dive Mode working?”  
Sakamaki’s mouth formed a frown, “Yes, all tests are stable and showing power levels well over our calculations.”  
“Good.”   
The president left him, and Sakamaki’s frown deepened. 

When Rei opened his eyes, Sakamaki was next to his bed again, “Coach Sakamaki, good morning.” There was a nod, but the older man didn’t look at him.   
“...Is something wrong, coach?”  
“Rei.” His voice was serious, and Rei looked up curiously, “You know who you are, correct?”  
“I’m…I’m your son, aren’t I? And I’m sick so I have to stay in the labs.” Rei eyes widened when Sakamaki didn’t answer him, “Coach? Dad? What’s wrong, dad?”   
Sakamaki let out a long, shuddering breath, “…Rei, you’ll have to forgive me.” Confusion only clouded Rei’s face more, “Dad? What’s going on?” He looked around, “Is something wrong?” Slowly, more and more realization was starting to dawn on the boy, and he held up his hands to look at them, “…Why are there cables attached to me? Dad…” Sakamaki wasn’t facing him anymore, and was typing into the screens, “What’s going on?”  
“Rei…you were never sick.” Sakamaki’s voice was collected, but his back was to Rei, “You’re the last android I created for Perfect Cascade.”   
“What are you talking about?”  
“But development is taking too long, so El Dorado has to speed up the process.”  
“Dad!”   
Inputting the final password, Sakamaki turned to watch the lab work, the glass shell of the chamber slightly obscuring Rei from him. He had to briefly close his eyes, before opening them and watch the cables move and robotic arms attach and install parts. On numerous glowing screens around him, the progress of the players’ systems being rewritten was shown.   
MEMORY FILES ERASED: 76%  
PERSONALITY CORE: 56% REWRTTEN AND CONTAINED

Finally, the chambers opened. Most of Perfect Cascade was still inactive. Rei Rukh’s eyes lit as he returned to wakefulness.   
“Coach Sakamaki. Greetings.” The adroid’s voice was calm and collected, with no trace of the distress that he had when Sakamaki had woken him up earlier.   
“Rei Rukh. Perform an internal scan for any remaining discrepancies.”   
“Affirmative. Performing internal diagnostics.”   
These were the players that El Dorado wanted. They would be the strongest, with no notion of weakness or mercy. Sakamaki’s expression was stoic and unreadable.   
“Internal diagnostic completed. Report: there is a minor glitch within my emotional protocols.” If it was possible, Rei Rukh frowned, “Error: misspoke.”  
“What?”  
“There is no glitch. Internal diagnostic has nothing to report. Conclusion: Activation of Perfect Cascade can begin as soon as possible.”  
“Good.” Sakamaki turned to leave the lab, and though he knew it was impossible, he felt like Rei was watching him go. Left behind in the lab, Rei watched the doors slide shut, before closing his eyes.  
“Good night, dad.”


	2. Little Steps

It was only when Sasuke started growling that Tenma realized he wasn’t alone in the park. He practiced a lot on his free time, but usually alone, seeing as the rest of the team had their own responsibilities to tend to.   
His dog started barking now, and Tenma caught the soccer ball, turning to whistle to quiet Sasuke and probably apologize to the person who had been walking by and spooked him.   
However, the last person he expected was standing at the edge of the clearing, under the shade of trees. Though they were wearing different clothes and had their jacket’s hood up, Tenma recognized the impassive expression immediately.   
“Rei Rukh?”   
The android nodded once, and Sasuke whimpered, trotting back to Tenma’s side to lick his hand. “Matsukaze Tenma.”   
“Er, what are you doing back here?” Part of his mind jumped to conclusions—there was a threat in the future, an even worse threat had emerged, their travels through time meant they had seen too much and they had to erase their memory…  
He blinked, because if it was possible, it looked like Rei was avoiding eye contact, “Negative. The time line is safe. I was merely observing.” That surprised Tenma a little, “Does EL Dorado need something?” Another pause. “Negative. I came to fulfill my own curiosity.” Rei stepped out from the shade, pulling down his hood, “Query: Why do you play soccer?” The question was so unexpected to him, Tenma almost dropped his soccer ball, “What do you mean? It’s fun!”   
Rei’s expression took on a definite frown, “That is an insufficient answer.” Now Tenma frowned as well, “Gouenji-san rescued Sasuke from a falling pile of lumber with soccer!” The other’s cold, diamond eyes rested on the dog in question for a moment, “Insufficient. You did not become so passionate about soccer from that event.” The android’s logic was blunt and cutting, but it also made sense.  
“Rei, what do you want to know really?”  
“I want to know exactly why you love soccer. Then, I perhaps might be able to answer my own questions.”   
Tenma sighed, dropping the soccer ball on the ground and keeping it in place with his foot, “But I don’t know what you want to know.” He grinned sheepishly, “So I don’t even know if I can help you as much as I could.”   
“I see.”   
There was an awkward moment of silence, and Tenma was almost sure that Rei was going to leave and find someone else to answer his questions, whatever they were. After a moment, the android still hadn’t moved, so Tenma gave him another smile, “Do you want to practice with me? I didn’t get a lot of chances to play with you during the Ragnarok tournament, so…” At first, Tenma was afraid that Rei might refuse and go back to his observing, but the robot nodded, “Affirmative.” 

It was just passing the ball back and forth as they ran up and down the make shift field, but Tenma still smiled brightly whenever he wasn’t running to catch up with Rei’s passes, “Hey, Rei, why did you ask me why I love soccer?”  
“Curiosity. I play soccer because I am a means to an end. I do not understand some things that others have.” Rei’s pass went higher and Tenma had to bump it on his chest to catch it, “You don’t love soccer?”  
“I was programmed to be the perfect player by Coach Sakamaki.”  
Tenma frowned as he kicked the ball back, “Does that mean you don’t love it?” Rei caught it easily, keeping his eyes on the ball; “My emotion core is kept under control by my logic circuits.”   
“But does that mean you only play soccer because Coach Sakamaki made you that way?”   
Rei frowned again, slowly coming to a stop, letting the ball roll in front of him, “That is why I have questions. I never doubted my purpose before, but now I feel like…” Another frown, “None of the other members of Perfect Cascade are like this.” Looking up, he turned back to Tenma, “Query: why do you love soccer?”  
“Rei…” Tenma thought again on the android’s question, “If I tell you why I love it, will it help you?”  
“Perhaps.”  
“I love soccer because it’s fun! I’ve met all of my friends and all of the people I look up to through it!” He smiled at the time traveler; “I love it because it makes me happy.”  
For a fraction of a second, Rei might have looked surprised, but Tenma blinked and his expression was as blank as ever, “…I see.”  
“Did that help?”  
“As an Android, I do not have friends, nor do I have the proper emotional protocols to make use of your answer.”   
Tenma’s face fell, “Oh…” Rei turned to start to leave, only to be stopped when Tenma grabbed his arm, “Then why don’t you try now?”  
“Specify.”  
“Having a friend!” A wide grin came back onto his face, and Rei looked slightly shocked at the idea, “Be my friend! I know you love soccer, Rei, even if you are an android!”   
“…That would be acceptable.” 

 

Perfect Cascade Unit 09: Rukh, Rei: Investigational Report:   
-Friendship  
-Visit Again


	3. Heart Monitor

Tenma knew he was lucky Aki was so nice to him; she fixed him food and was very calm when the Raimon team took on Fifth Sector. He barely had a reason to complain about anything—except for now, when he had to wrestle Rei’s arm away from Sasuke, who thought it was a new toy, and then sneak it up stairs to his room, past Aki in the dining room making rice balls.   
Finally, he shut the door behind him, letting out a sigh and dropping Rei’s arm from where he had hid it up his jacket. Sitting on his bed, the android had his version of looking remorseful on.   
“I apologize for the trouble.”  
“N-no, it’s no trouble at all, Rei!” Tenma reassured him quickly and walked to his bed to hand over the last body part, “I just didn’t expect for you to suddenly drop in on me! Er, how did this happen anyways?” Wordlessly, Rei took the offered arm, “The Sphere Devices have been temperamental lately.”   
“And it made you…lose your limbs?”  
“The portal was small.”   
“Oh.” Finding nothing to add, Tenma sat next to him, watching Rei’s internal systems begin its self-repair programs, “Does it hurt? To, um, have your arms and legs pulled off like that?”  
“Negative.” Rei’s cool monotone made his answer almost seem flippant, “Once the main cables are disconnected from the central network, they no longer are a part of my informational network.” A lot of that information went over Tenma’s head, and he frowned again, “It looks like it would hurt…”  
“If I were human.” His simple statement made Tenma’s mood fall a little bit more; the way that Rei kept insisting the strict difference between Perfect Cascade and everyone else made it seem like sometimes he didn’t consider himself a person at all.   
“Observation: you are crying. Query: Cause?”   
Tenma was brought out of his thoughts, and started rubbing his eyes on his sleeves, “I-it’s nothing, Rei! How’s your arm coming along?”  
“Only minimal capabilities for the moment.” Experimentally, Rei flexed his fingers, watching only three of them respond, while his pinky twitched in a slightly disturbing way, “Full repairs will take more time. Conclusion: I must go back to Coach Sakamaki’s lab for full repairs.”   
“Are you going to leave already?” Rei was already getting up, but paused perfectly still when Tenma spoke, “Aki is already going to make dinner for us, and there’s a futon I can lay out on my floor!”  
“I do not require food or sleep to maintain my energy levels. I should return to Coach Sakamaki.” Tenma sighed deeply, “I suppose you’re right.”  
There was another moment of silence, and then Rei turned to face him; his arm was almost entirely reconnected now, with only a few silvery cables peeking out, “…I do not have a sphere device.”  
“So, you can’t go back?”  
“Until Omega Protocol or other Perfect Cascade members come here, I must remain here.” Rei nodded, slightly stiffly, “I will accept your offer.”  
Tenma grinned, “Alright! Aki is one of the best cooks ever—you can eat, right?”  
“That is correct. My systems can process food.”   
“That’s cool, your Coach really thought of everything.”

Both of them were looking up at Tenma’s ceiling, once dinner was done and Tenma had to come up with some very quick excuses as to where someone as interesting as Rei might have come from.   
From the futon on the floor, Rei’s diamond eyes emitted a soft, blue light that reached to his room’s ceiling.   
“I’m still glad you could stay over, Rei, even if it is to wait for someone to pick you up.”  
“Affirmative. I believe I might be closer to understanding my questions.”  
Curious, Tenma sat up slightly, propping himself up on his elbows to look over at the other, “About why you play soccer?”  
“That is one of my questions. I have more, but the last ones I believe that only Coach Sakamaki can answer them.”   
“Your coach? Oh, yeah, he created you…”  
Tenma waited for Rei to continue, but the android didn’t answer, and appeared to be thinking, “Matsukaze Tenma.”  
“You can just call me Tenma.”  
“…Tenma. These last questions I need answered…” The android spoke haltingly, and there was a frown on his face, “The ones for Coach Sakamaki. I do not, I do not know if I wish to know the truth, at times.”  
“Are you afraid?”  
“I do not have the protocols for such a thing. There appears to be a glitch in my memory drive.” Rei closed his eyes, cutting off the blue light, “It makes it difficult to vocalize it.” Up on his bed, Tenma’s expression grew worried; “It makes you afraid to talk about it?”  
“That is the equivalent of it. From what I have gathered from my own investigations, it appears most of the Perfect Cascade androids were made from the same template of the advanced android soldiers El Dorado had developed.” Rei opened his eyes again, and the cool light returned, “But my systems run differently. I require more checks on my net work center.” Rei fell quiet again, and Tenma sat up fully, “Rei, what does that mean?”  
“I believe I was created from the template of something other than the El Dorado Android soldiers.” Despite the revelation, Rei’s voice was steady, “And I wish to speak to recover more information from Coach Sakamaki.”   
There was a moment of quiet, before he spoke again, “Am I acting outside of my parameters?”  
“Eh, finding out about your self?”  
“Affirmative.”   
With a determined frown, Tenma shook his head, falling back onto his pillow, “No, I don’t think so at all.” Down on the ground, if it were possible, Rei smiled, ever so slightly, “Conclusion: I shall pose my questions to Coach Sakamaki when I return.”   
“Good! I hope it does answer your questions, Rei!”  
“Indeed.”  
“Ah! I have to help with sweeping tomorrow! Good night, Rei!”  
The android was quiet as Tenma quickly fell asleep, his breathing evening out and occasionally snoring. On the futon, Rei Rukh stared upwards, the camera in his eyes easily memorizing and analyzing every crack and chip on the ceiling.  
“…Good night, Tenma.”


	4. Look At Me

The slide of the lab’s doors surprised him, but Sakamaki didn’t look up. He growled in irritation, hands tightening around the tools he had been using at his table.  
“I said I did not want any interruptions.”  
“Forgive me, Coach Sakamaki, but I do not believe this can wait.”   
The older man stiffened as Rei spoke, and the android entered the lab, letting the door close behind him. “Rei Rukh…you missed several practice games. Because of your absence, Perfect Cascade’s performance has fallen.”   
Stiffly, Rei did a small bow, “I apologize again, sir. But I believe that I had to take matters into my own hands.”   
Turning on his chair to face the robot, Sakamaki frowned even more, “And what matters would be more important than maintaining Perfect Cascade?”   
“Reasons pertaining to who I am.”  
For a moment, Sakamaki might have looked surprised, but his expression quickly turned grim, “You are Perfect Cascade Unit 09: Rukh, Rei.”  
“That is correct, Coach Sakamaki. However, as of late…” Rei paused, eyes unfocusing for a second, “I have questions, and my absence was because I was looking for answers.”   
Sakamaki’s eyes narrowed, “Questions? The captain of Perfect Cascade cannot be questioning things.”   
“I know that, sir. But these questions would not leave me—“  
“Then erase them from your processor. Do not forget what you are, Rei Rukh.”  
“Indeed, sir, but something—“  
“You are wasting my time. Report to the Perfect Cascade meeting room to begin briefing”  
“Sir—“  
“That is an order, Rei Rukh.”  
A minute passed, and it looked like Rei would do as he said and leave. Another minute passed, the lab was totally silent.  
“Sir.” Rei was still standing behind him. Sakamaki didn’t turn around. “Sir. Among these questions that remain with me, there are a few that I believe you can answer best. I know that Perfect Cascade’s design was based upon the advanced android soldiers you prototyped.”  
A pause, and Sakamaki was still working.  
“However, the blue prints of my own design differ greatly. Query: What am I based upon?”  
Sakamaki didn’t show a sign that he had even heard him.   
“Sir. Why do others love soccer and we of Perfect Cascade play it because it is the only thing we know?”  
No answer.  
“Coach Sakamaki. Why have you programmed us this way?”  
For the fraction of a second, the old man froze like he was going to react, but then continued working. Rei stopped as well, his computer mind considering everything else he still felt he needed to ask the man, even the questions that caused a glitch in his system and were difficult to vocalize.   
“Dad.”  
Now, Sakamaki did freeze.   
“Dad. Why was I allowed to call you that before you implemented Perfect Cascade? Why did you let me believe I was alive? Why did you let me believe I was your son?” Though the android was not capable of much inflection, Rei’s voice sounded pained, “A glitch in the system kept those files within my system. I need to know why you did those things.”   
Sakamaki let out a deep breath, his hands falling to the table, “Rei.”  
“Perfect Cascade is a means to an end.”  
“I know that, Rei.”  
“Perfect Cascade were never meant to be children. We were meant to be players.”   
“That was what El Dorado needed.”  
Now it was Rei’s expression that turned cold, “Then why did you act like that? And why was it me?”   
“Rei…you need to know that I never wanted for Perfect Cascade to be activated that way.” For once in his life, Sakamaki sounded his age, “When I created the systems for the team, I intended for all of Perfect Cascade to function as if they were a normal child.”  
“Query: Is that I still have access to those memory files?”  
“No. I intended to wipe everything from the team’s drive. You kept several files, but I did not consider they were actually memory files.”  
“I see. Query: Why was I the one to call you ‘father’?”   
There was no answer, and Sakamaki, after a moment of deliberation, went back to his work.   
“Coach Sakamaki, please answer me.”  
Rei could feel skips in his processor as he felt the emotional core start to override the logic circuits.   
“Sakamaki-san.”  
“Rei Rukh. Leave me now. I can’t answer your questions.”   
Amazingly, emotion flashed across Rei’s face as his jaw tightened in frustration, before it smoothed out into a blank mask.   
Even more stiff than before, Rei bowed to his Coach’s back, and then turned to leave the lab. Halfway through the door, the android paused, not to look back but to speak once.  
“Good night, dad.”


	5. Winter Time Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pom-pom hats are an affront to fashion.

It usually didn’t snow so hard, so suddenly, or so early in winter, but there it was, about five inches or so on the ground, and Tenma had nearly run outside in excitement. In the kitchen, Aki laughed to herself, watching the boy play in the snow, Sasuke chasing after him.   
After he came back in, shivering but grinning, she wrapped a scarf around his neck and dug out a pair of gloves, and, knowing that at least one of his team mates would probably forget something when they went to practice, she put another scarf, a pair of gloves and a hat inside his sports bag as well.   
“Bye, Aki-nee!” He called at the door, zipping his winter jacket up all the way, “I’m going now!”  
“Stay warm!” She called back from the kitchen, hearing a rushed, “I will!” As the door closed behind him, and the sound of him running across the yard, crunching snow as he went. 

Naturally enough, Hamano had managed to rope a few of the other members into making snow men on the outdoor field while they waited for Coach Endou to show up and unlock the doors to the locker rooms. Honestly, they could wait in the indoor field, but it was far more fun being outside. Even Kariya agreed, although he grumbled a lot about how he couldn’t feel his toes. Amagi ended up throwing a giant snowball that Tsurugi ducked smoothly to avoid, resulting in it hitting Hikaru in the back, and making him fall forwards into his half finished snow man. Kariya laughed so hard he started snorting, and didn’t see the snowball Nishiki had thrown until it ended up on his face.   
When Coach Endou finally arrived (he had been held up by Natsumi, Fuyuppe and Haruna trying to make sure he stayed warm), there was a full blown snow ball war across the field, which did not stop until and thrown snow projectile flew too far and hit Kidou square in the goggles.   
Breathing harder and red in the face from the cold and excitement, the team herded inside the indoor field, with Kidou silently nursing his pride in the back.   
In the end they didn’t get very much actual practicing done, but they all left in good spirits, and Endou had managed to coax a smile from Kidou. At the gate, Amagi jogged away to meet the red haired captain from Genei, and Nishiki had run off in another direction, yelling about meeting a friend who had just arrived on his motorcycle.   
For some reason, that nudged something at the edge of Tenma’s memory, but he pushed it away in favor of thinking about Aki-nee’s hot chocolate.   
Waving goodbye to the rest of the team, he started running, trying to move quickly and also not trip over piles of snow. 

About half the way back to the house, Tenma almost tripped over himself to stop as he saw someone standing in the middle of the snowy sidewalk. His first thought was instant worry—they were just wearing a soccer uniform, and it didn’t even have long sleeves. The second thought was absolute surprise, because he recognized the person.  
“Rei Rukh?”   
Hearing his name, the android turned to look at Tenma, his breath making small puffs of white in the cold air, “Matsukaze Tenma.”   
While Tenma knew his face must be bright red for the cold, his hair was wet from where he had been hit with a goodbye snowball by Midori and he had a fluffy, snow flake patterned scarf tied around his neck, Rei was standing perfectly still, like the chill didn’t bother him. His skin was as pale as the snow around him, and the only thing that really stood out on his face was his bright blue, diamond shaped eyes, and if Tenma looked closely, he could the light they gave off reflecting off of the snow.   
“Wh-what are you doing here?”  
“Observing.”   
Frowning, Tenma hugged himself in an effort to keep warm now that he was no longer running, “Y-you do th-that a l-lot, y-you know.”   
“The scientific method requires many repeated observations and experiments for an accurate answer.”   
“S-still…” Tenma shivered, “A-aren’t you cold? H-how l-long have y-you been standing here?”   
“For approximately 37 minutes.”  
“Yikes! In y-your uniform? Y-you’ll f-f-freeze!”  
Rei appeared bemused for a second, and shook his head, “Negative. I have shut off my temperature receptors and am running my internal heat systems higher than normal.” Tenma ignored him in order to dig around inside his sports bag, pulling out one end of the long, multicolored scarf that Aki had packed him.   
“Th-that d-doesn’t matter! H-here.” Before Rei could start to argue with him again, Tenma determinedly began wrapping the scarf around Rei’s neck. “W-won’t the cold effect y-your s-systems or s-something?”  
“Negative.” Despite saying so, Rei’s eyes looked bemused again, and he let Tenma wind the scarf around his shoulders, neck before the Raimon player pulled it up so it could help cover Rei’s nose.   
“H-hold on.” Obediently, the android didn’t move while Tenma took out the gloves as well, holding out a hand and pulling on the gloves when Tenma handed them over. As a finishing touch, Tenma stood on his toes to put the wool hat on Rei’s head, tugging down the earflaps so they would cover Rei’s eyes, the pom-pom ends bouncing as they hit the scarf.  
Stepping back, Tenma gave him a sheepish grin, “B-better?” Looking down at his now covered hands and studying the trailing end of the scarf, Rei almost answered with another concise explanation that he didn’t feel the cold, but he paused.  
“…Affirmative.”   
Pleasantly surprised, Tenma laughed, “Y-you are? Th-then how about we get some hot chocolate? Aki-nee makes the best!”  
“I have never had that beverage before. I shall add it to my observations.”   
His jaw dropping in shock, Tenma grabbed Rei’s hand, “Th-then you have to h-have it right away! Come on!” Intertwining their fingers so he couldn’t accidentally let go, he started running again, Rei behind him.   
Underneath the heavily wrapped scarf, Rei’s lips moved into a small, faint, yet warm smile. “Affirmative, Matsukaze Tenma.”


	6. You Know Me

The next time that Tenma saw Rei, winter had already passed in a blur of snowstorms and holidays, and spring was arriving. The trees along the route to school were blooming, it was still chill enough to wear a jacket, and more than a few people were already complaining about allergies.  
Soccer practice had been cancelled so the field and the rooms could be cleaned in preparation for a new season, so Tenma found himself running home early in order to finish homework and start his own practice at the park.  
He almost missed Rei when he ran by the bench, only to freeze and retrace his last few steps quickly, trying not to disturb the birds or scattered birdseed.  
“Rei?”  
“Tenma.”  
The android looked as emotionless as usual, even surrounded by birds enthusiastically eating the seeds around him. A courageous one even sat on his shoulder, every so often warbling a few notes.  
“You’re back!”  
“Affirmative.”  
It took a minute for Tenma to properly arrange a sentence in his head that wasn’t a garbled mess. “When did you get here?”  
“Approximately 37 minutes ago. An older female pressed upon me to feed the birds of this area.” If it were possible for Rei to put more inflection into his voice, he would have probably sounded amused at the turn of events. Though Tenma smiled at that, he forced himself to ask the next question, “Did you get all your answers from Coach Sakamaki?”  
Rei paused, his expression gaining a somber tone. “No. I believe I will have to wait for those answers.” The android looked back down at the gathering of birds, following a few of them with his blue eyes as they flew away when Tenma sat down next to him.  
“Are you mad at your coach?”  
Rei’s eyebrows raised a fraction of an inch at the other boy’s question, “Query: Clarify?” Tenma let out a breath with a whoosh, causing the bird on Rei’s shoulder to fly away, before returning after a minute, chirping like it was trying to scold him.  
“Well, I mean…” He rubbed the back of his neck, the time traveler’s inquisitive gaze making him blush for some reason, “…You came back here. Shouldn’t you be back with Perfect Cascade?”  
“Negative.” Rei’s eyes returned to studying the birds pecking at the seeds on the pavement, “I do not believe Perfect Cascade can offer any answers.”  
“Then why did you come back here?” Tenma looked at the other’s face curiously, “My systems function better in this time period. Cause: Less interference from the satellite communications network.”  
“So you can think here?”  
“Affirmative.”  
Tenma made a small hum, “Do you want to go back to the house? Aki-nee can make snacks for us, but I have to finish my homework before we can play any soccer…” He perked up like he remembered something else, “Rei! Did you find out if you love soccer?”  
The android opened his mouth to respond, before closing it, frowning, and then, surprising Tenma to the point where he jumped out of his seat. Rei’s normally blue eyes light up like a flash light and the seams in his face appear like he’s going into Hyper Dive Mode, only to let out steam.  
“R-Rei?! Are you okay?” The birds flew away in a flock, chirping and squawking at what had disturbed their mealtime. “N-Negative, T-Tenma.”  
There was a pause, and then Tenma laughed slightly, “Rei, you’re embarrassed, aren’t you?”  
“N-Negative. I l-lack the e-emotional protocols f-for s-such…”  
“You are though! You’re shooting steam out of your ears!”  
“Cooling systems: activate. Qu-query: W-why am I-I malfunctioning f-from y-your f-f-face?”  
Instantly, Tenma felt his own face heat up, “W-what? M-me?!”  
“O-observation: Y-you a-are facing s-similar p-problems.”  
He was probably bright red now, and Tenma suddenly stood up, “I-I’m going to Aki-nee’s! You can meet me there!” And took off running at top speed down the street, leaving Rei, who’s systems slowly returned to normal.  
“…Observation,” The robot said to himself, raising one hand to put it on one side of his face, “Recent interaction with Matsukaze Tenma causes systems to overheat and forcibly activate cooling systems.” If it was possible for him to put inflection into his voice, his sigh might have sounded frustrated, “Source of glitch: undetermined. Emotion core will need to be checked and have more fire walls added if this continues.”


	7. Diamonds Do Not Break

“I cannot continue enacting Time Jumps.” Tenma stopped what he had been doing, walking along the edge of the path along the river, to look back at Rei, who had stopped moving. “You mean you can’t visit anymore?”  
“Affirmative. The Time Stream does not require any more repairs and further jumps to the same era will create strain.” Rei exhaled, sounding somewhat like a sigh, “It is for the best.” Tenma’s face fell, and he walked back to stand next to the android, “I-I see…” A quiet settled between them, as Tenma shifted from foot to foot, collecting his thoughts, and Rei simply watched the sun start to set, making the river turn a bright orange.   
“Tenma.” He almost jumped when Rei spoke, not expecting the android to initiate th conversation after such a heavy revelation.  
“Yes, Rei?” Managing to stop fidgeting, Tenma gave him a slightly worried look, “Is something wrong?” Appearing to be gathering his thoughts, it was a few seconds for the time traveler to answer.  
“Have you ever been sad?”  
“Huh?” Tenma blinked in surprised, but Rei remained quiet, like he was waiting for an answer. “Of course I have! When I thought everyone was leaving, when I thought I failed as Captain…” He trailed off, glancing at his shoes and then back at Rei’s face, “Are you sad, Rei?”  
For once, the android did not immediately correct him about his emotional core lacking the processing power to be ‘sad’, and instead seemed to be thinking hard about what he would say next.   
“…My processor is facing repeated minor malfunctions, my self repair systems failed to fix a fluid leak in my optic sensors, and my memory drive is replaying recent files…” The diamond eyes closed briefly, “…Answer: If I were human, I would be…sad.” He said the last words quietly, like he had realized something in his head while he had been talking. As Tenma’s eyes widened in understanding, Rei nodded to himself. “Yes. I am sad.”  
“But you said, before—your emotional core…”  
“Appears to be a factor, but ultimately irrelevant.”   
Rei let out a small exhale, that could have been the beginnings of a sigh, and Tenma leaned a little closer, until their arms could brush against each other, “What are you sad about?”  
“…I…I am sad…that…” A frown graced Rei’s face, and he suddenly seemed frustrated that he couldn’t properly, “…I am sad that I will not…be able to…” Turning his head away, the android finally ground out, “…I will n-not be able to o-observe this era again.”   
“You’re always observing us; I thought you already figured everything out about this time period.” When the time traveler didn’t respond, Tenma frowned a little, and reached out, putting his hand on Rei’s shoulder. Instead of telling him that it was a meaningless gesture to him, Rei let out another breath, and didn’t shake his hand off.   
“I have catalogued factual evidence from this era, and have analyzed the data to form an accurate conclusion based upon it.” He answered automatically, his voice clipped, “But I believe…that’s…” Another frown.  
“Hey, what is it?” Tenma asked, letting go of Rei’s shoulder.  
“…I believe th-that I will be sad…that I will not be able to talk to you again.” The brown haired boy blinked in surprise, and Rei looked like he might start erupting steam at any moment because of his overworking processor. “M-me?”  
“Affirmative. If I were human, I would…say I enjoy seeing you.” Rei’s eyes glowed a little brighter, a sure sign that his internal systems were reaching capacity, “And I want to continue you seeing you.” Tenma, meanwhile, uselessly opened and closed his mouth like he wanted to say something but didn’t know what. It might have been a trick from his imagination, but Tenma swore that the edges of Rei’s crinkled like he was smiling, very, very slightly, “Query: Is that alright?”  
“T-to want t-to see me again? Yeah! Of course it is, Rei!” Snapping out of his stupor, Tenma grinned widely, grabbing Rei’s hands without thinking, “I’m your friend, remember?”  
“Thank you, Tenma.”

 

 

 

 

Goodbye, Tenma.


	8. Further Back, to the Beginning

At first, Tenma didn't know what to do with the Sphere Device Rei left.   
He couldn't really tell the other Raimon members about it, despite it looking, relatively, like a normal soccer ball, and he didn't try to kick it, out of the small fear that he might activate one of its functions and find himself in another era entirely.  
Instead, the Sphere was under his bed, far from where Sasuke could reach it with his nose, and where he couldn't accidentally kick it in the morning. Every so often, he would pull it out and study it intently, sitting cross legged on his bed with the Sphere Device on his lap. The colored circles glowed every so often, and small lights traveled along the grooves. It was actually rather pretty, and surprisingly light. 

The Sphere had been under his bed for 2 weeks before Tenma tried talking to it. He didn't quite know what he expected--maybe he was talking to soccer, maybe it was soccer 200 years in the future, or maybe to Rei, in some small hope that the android left it here for more reasons than for Tenma to remember him by.   
For a while, the Sphere just sat in his lap, blinking lights in odd patterns. There was no sign that the Device was reacting to his voice, but Tenma kept talking, usually about soccer and Raimon's games, sometimes about how much he wanted to see everyone in the future, and how he thought they were doing.  
The Sphere didn't answer.

It was near midnight, and Tenma couldn't sleep. He had been counting the cracks in his ceiling, hands resting behind his head, and the Sphere Device next to his head, casting soft lights around his room.  
"I wonder how everyone's doing..." His face fell a little, "I wonder how Rei's doing... I hope he got the answers he wanted..." Next to him, the lights on the Sphere dimmed, making the boy sit up.  
The disks spun on the ball's surface, until a light blue one was facing the wall opposite the bed. A small beep, and a single beam of light illuminated the wall, before appearing to solidify in a hologram of a boy with almost colorless skin, close cut grey hair and strange, diamond-like eyes that Tenma had grown used to.   
"Rei!"   
There was a pause, and the image of Rei closed his eyes, like he had done when he was thinking deeply.   
_  
Unconsciously, Tenma started moving to the edge of the bed, until he was sitting next to the Sphere projector. The hologram opened its eyes, and had a faint smile on its face._

_Maybe it was Tenma's imagination, but he thought the image's expression softened slightly.  
 _The last part came out haltingly, and there was a pause before Rei's message continued.__

__Carefully, Tenma reached out and picked up the Sphere, watching the disks move again, except for the light blue projecting one, until the bright red disk was facing him, glowing dully.  
Rei's hologram had closed his eyes, like he had finished his message and was waiting for Tenma to make a choice.   
Swallowing, Tenma looked back down at the disk. After a minute, he hesitantly put a hand on the red spot, and, not quite sure how to activate it--or what would happen if he did---Tenma pushed it.   
MOVE MODE ACTIVATED  
The hologram gave him a nod._ _

__

__In a sudden flash of light, the bedroom was empty._ _

__The first thing Tenma noticed was he still had the Sphere Device in his hands.  
The second was that he was just wearing his pajamas.   
Opening his eyes slowly, Tenma felt his jaw drop. Shining metal skyscrapers were all around him, and cars zipped on both the road in front of him and through the air as well. Slowly turning, he squinted against the midday sun, until he faced a park, with a soccer field set up and dark green trees forming a fence around it.  
With a beep, the Sphere Device collapsed into a small disk, before flying into his pocket.  
"Where...am I? Why did Rei send me here?"   
Thinking hard, Tenma started walking down the steps to the park. "Is this… where his answers are? Is he going to be here?"   
Tenma had been so deep inside his thoughts that he missed the last step and stumbled, before a soccer ball bounced off of the side of his head. Falling to the ground in a heap, he groaned, holding his head, and pulling himself up into a sitting position. Someone came closer, their shoes crunching the dirt and put a pale hand out to help him up.  
"Sorry about that!" Tenma froze at the familiar voice; "I can't get out of the hospital a lot, so I guess I got too excited."   
Tenma was almost afraid to look up.  
"Here, let me help you up."   
Taking the hand, Tenma let himself be pulled up, before finally looking at the other boy's face.   
Familiar pale skin, close cut grey hair, that looked like it had just started growing back from being shaved, and bright blue eyes that crinkled at the edges as he smiled.   
"...Rei?" The name slipped out before Tenma could stop it, and the other boy blinked in surprise, "Have we met...?"  
"A-ah! No, its, um, you..." Tenma struggled sheepishly, "I'm Tenma." The blue eyes turned up at the corners again as he smiled, "Its nice to meet you, Tenma. I'm Rei." The smile grew to a grin, "Sorry about hitting you in the head...I can't get out of the hospital very often, so I guess..." He shrugged, something that the Rei Tenma knew would never do, "Say, Tenma, do you like soccer?" His eyes were bright again, "I really want to join a team, and dad says I can when I get better."   
Retrieving the ball, he took a few steps back and then kicked it to Tenma, who caught it easily. "Since my dad works in El Dorado that over sees a lot of the soccer tournaments, I bet he knows a really nice team for a beginner like me." He attempted to catch the ball in a head butt, but the ball bounced off awkwardly to the side. "Gah! Yeah, that happens a lot." Rei smiled ruefully, jogging after the ball and picking it up, "But I really can't wait until I can play soccer with everyone else." Another grin, "Sorry for talking so much, I guess, Tenma. "  
Hesitantly going to answer him, Tenma paused from jogging out to the field to glance at the trees around the pitch. Underneath the shadows of the branches, with his jacket hood up so only his eyes glowed unnaturally bright; Rei Rukh from the future watched them. When Tenma's eyes met his, he gave him a small, almost not even there, nod._ _


	9. Outside

Rei knew he had been in the hospital for two months, six days, and three hours, because his clock said it was only a few minutes past eleven in the morning, and there was finally snow outside of his window.   
He also knew he was almost always attached to an IV, and a heart monitor that often beeped wildly when he coughed too hard.   
Sometimes his dad visited, when his work at El Dorado allowed. Each time, the pale boy would ask the same question.   
"Dad, when can I play soccer with everyone else?"   
His father's expression would turn slightly pained, but he would smile and reach over to gently pat Rei's head.  
"Not for a little while longer. You're very sick."  
"Oh, okay."  
That would end the conversation, and Rei would wait until his next visit to ask again.  
But right now, visiting hours would happen tomorrow, and so it was just Rei and the snow falling outside.


End file.
